Programme: Les Ferdinand

Tottenham Hotspur (Spurs) Football Club is located in North London. The club is also known as Spurs. Tottenham's home ground is White Hart Lane. The club motto is Audere est Facere (To dare is to do).

All those months of misery cascaded from the broad shoulders of Les Ferdinand as he put Leicester City to the sword in our last game here.

Les, of course, scored all three in our excellent win over Peter Taylor's capable side and continued that excellent form against Manchester United at Old Trafford where he went close with two good chances and again led the line with all his old enthusiasm and power.

After managing just nine games last season, Les kicked off the current campaign with a goal here against Ipswich Town and, with Steffen Iversen missing through injury, has quickly re-established himself with all the muscular energy that is his trademark.

For Les it was his first hat-trick in our colours and, as one journalist wryly suggested after the City game, the last ball that he took home for a similar feat, had a lace in it! Ferdinand took all the banter in good heart but you could sense the delight that the treble had given him.

Indeed, it was put away in the classic style - a right foot shot, a header and a left-foot finish. And that first goal illustrated the resurrection of all his old confidence as he moved on to the ball with purpose and cracked it home without a thought for anything else.

"That is what I dreamed about when I first came here. I just wanted to score goals for Spurs, my team as a lad," admits Ferdi who came through so much agony last term that he even considered giving up. Fortunately, he stayed in positive mode with typical character and determination and, with the help of our dedicated medical staff, came through it all to prove his potency against Leicester.

He continues: "From day one at Tottenham I wanted to score goals, I wanted the team to improve and I wanted us to win things.

"Sadly, I've had an unfortunate time with injuries, I've also suffered with loss of form as well because I've never really been able to sustain a run of games in the side. This season so far, touch wood, I've been able to do that and hopefully I can now go on to reap the rewards.

"True, I had some low points, especially last year, but I'm glad I stuck to it. The people I have around me encouraged me all the time and that hat-trick is for them."

The triple success made it four goals in two games for Ferdinand who is finally finding some luck on his side at the Lane.

"After scoring here against Liverpool the week before, I thought that it would be nice to go on a run," he adds. "Fortunately, I managed to build on that against City but I know that I have to go on doing that.

"Sometimes, with the way the game goes, you get yourself into positions and the ball zips past you and just you can't get a touch. This time, after the first goal, when Ledley King did well to catch a defender in possession, the second was a goal-line clearance that went straight to me while the third was a shot by Darren Anderton that came back off the goalkeeper and landed at my feet."

In fact the only thing missing to cap a perfect day was the matchball - which disappeared at the final whistle to leave a disappointed Les clutching a spare. But fortunately even that was quickly resolved.

Ferdi recalls: "Someone kicked the matchball into the stand at the end and one of the supporters obviously thought 'I've got a nice early Christmas present here' and walked away with it. But he phoned in soon afterwards and returned the ball later in the week, which I obviously appreciated."

Let's hope that his well-deserved hat-trick is just the start for Les and that there are more match balls to take home as the goals continue to flow.

What they said about Les!

George Graham: "I'm delighted for Les because he's had terrible luck with injuries. He's been through so much, the fact that he's playing is a bonus...but he is in the best form since I joined the club. He's working hard, his attitude is first class and he has shown great character."

Peter Taylor: "Les looked some player against us. He's back to being a good, strong player again and that was our bad luck."

Darren Anderton: "Les deserved that hat-trick. He's been working hard without getting the goals and that's just what he needed. He's an outstanding team player - you only have to look at the knocks he takes to fully appreciate that."

Stephen Clemence: "Les must be delighted and no-one deserves it more than him because he's worked so hard for us up front without much reward in recent games."